


BULLETIN of the 

Itttti^rHttg 0f ^outlj Olarolttia 

THE STATUS 

dfthe 

TEACHING PROFESSION 




Report of the Committe* of the Stsite Teachers' Association of South 
Carolina, 1917; Reprinted by Permission From the Proceedings. 



ISSUED MONTHLY 
BY THE UNIVERSITY 



No. 61 
October, 1917 



COLUMBIA, S. C. 

Second-Class Mail Matter 




Monograph 



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The Status of the Teaching Profession 



Your Committee respectfully submits that the status of 
the teaching profession is of all educational concerns the 
greatest. The essential means of education — that for which 
all funds, buildings, organizations and machinery exist or 
should exist — is to bring to the child the best work of the 
best teacher. The central problem, then, is, how shall we 
get the best teachers for our schools ? 

To the solution of this problem there are two ways. The 
one is to train teachers into greater efficiency. This is indis- 
pensable but insufficient. Far too small a proportion of 
the best talent comes to take our training, and an enormously 
large proportion of those who come leave it. 

The second way of getting the right teachers is to make 
the life of a teacher such as to attract and hold a greater 
share of the best intellects and choicest characters. This is 
the way to which our efforts must be especially directed. 
We must increase the things which attract and we must 
remove the things that repel. 

Let us inquire the reason why the teacher's life is not now 
attractive. 

Salaries Inadequate 

The first cause to occur to every mind is the insufficien- 
cy of the salary. This is so keenly appreciated as to need 
little comment. 

Young women receive a pittance of a monthly salary and 
then are required to live at a standard away beyond it. In 
addition they must spend money on books, teachers' meet- 
ings, and summer schools, and then must save enough to 
starve on for three, four, or five months of the year. Many 
a young man, after a few years of teaching, must face the 
hard decision whether he will relinquish his high aspirations 



4 

of usefulness, or will surrender the right of every normal 
man to establish a family, or, being already married, will 
prove recreant to the first of social duties — that of provid- 
ing the necessities of life for his own flesh and blood. We 
need no explanation of the fact that every year, men and 
women are leaving this work in troops. We would not, if 
we could, have people drawn into this work by love of lucre, 
but we demand that they be not forced out by economic nec- 
essity. 

A second objection to the teacher's life is the lack of pro- 
vision for old age. The meagerness of the teacher's pay and 
the self-sacrificing nature of the work make such provision 
on his own part practically impossible. Youth may conquer 
hardships and scorn poverty ; but as years cool the pulse and 
lengthen the vision, the prospect of an old age of helpless 
destitution is as the bitterness of death. The very bravery 
of the spirit makes the thought of dependence intolerable. 
And all this as a reward of self-sacrifice. 

In the third place the instability of tenure of the teacher's 
position has become proverbial. Its notoriety makes sta- 
tistics needless. It would be repulsive to any self-respect- 
ing group of workers to lack* all sense of stability and con- 
tinuity, to repeat with each returning year the same sup- 
plication for permission to work, to hold one's place sub- 
ject to the whim of trustee, patron, and child. 

Promotion is Slow 

Next we may mention the lack of a chance for promo- 
tion. There are, it is true, a few town superintendencies to 
which ambitious young teachers may look, but too few even 
of these. For rural teachers the case is still worse. Here 
is a common history : A young man goes to a rural school, 
works well and successfully, and in two or three years brings 
the school up to as high a grade as the resources of the com- 
munity permit. He has risen as high as he can go. Out- 
side of politics, his only possibility of promotion lies in leav- 
ing the country. Are those who are content to stop with 
mediocrity the only men that we need for this great work? 



But it is not merely the external rewards of teaching that 
are defective: much in the life itself is found objectionable. 
For instance, teachers do not receive as much professional 
respect in this as in other countries. As a class, society 
does not rank us with clergymen, physicians, and lawyers. 
Is it not a fact that an applicant for a position is often treat- 
ed as a suppliant for charity? 

Again, few occupations abound more in unpleasant per- 
sonal relations. It is true that the compensations of the true 
teacher outweigh all these; but nothing short of such com- 
pensations could outweigh them. There are unpleasant- 
nesses that are not mediated by conventional restraints or 
parliamentary proprieties, but consist of first-hand, unglov- 
ed contacts with lawlessness, with adult childishness, with 
unshamed barbarism, or with serpent-toothed thanklessness. 
The best of teachers are not exempt. 

Work is Exhausting 

Last may be added the wearing nature of the life. Few 
occupations require such strained attention for so long a 
time, and few impose so much out-of-shop work. Most 
long-hour occupations can be reduced to routine. Habitu- 
ation is nature's great device for conserving nerve power ; 
but in teaching, rut-running means failure. The proportion 
of teachers who break down is very large. 

REMEDIES. 

This, then, is our attempt at diagnosis. What are the rem- 
dies? Remedy is not possible, for these conditions have 
been mended elsewhere ; but in most cases it must work by 
the slow process of agitation rather than by a quick opera- 
tion. After all, nothing is more practical than to put notions 
into people's heads. 

The one central thing is to increase the community's re- 
spect for the teacher-^lead it to value him more highly. 
The rest will follow. 

1. The first specific means is organization. The com- 



6 

fort of the teacher's Hfe will be enhanced by that sense of 
strength which comes from feeling that an organized body- 
is at his back. There is a world of satisfaction in the elbow 
touch. The public also will be wholesomely affected by 
the knowledge of such backing. 

Need Better Organization 

While the Teachers' Association is accomplishing some- 
thing in these respects, a stronger organization is needed. 
We need an organization that has power to protect the mem- 
bers against oppression, the power consisting not necessar- 
ily in legal weapons, certainly not in the strike, but in pub- 
lic investigation. We need also power to enforce among 
our own members a higher standard of professional ethics. 
If, for instance, a contract is broken, whether by board or 
teacher, let the offender smart. While we can not do all at 
once, we can be moving in that direction. Perhaps the best 
first step would be for some of the stronger county organi- 
zations to appoint a standing committee to investigate, on 
request, any charge of unfair conduct between teacher and 
school authorities. Even if it were not called on to act, the 
mere knowledge of its existence would exert a restraining 
influence both on the board disposed to be tyrannical and 
on the teacher disposed to disregard duty. 

2. This suggests the second remedy, professionalization. 
Altho, in respect to the knowledge and training required, 
teaching measures up to the professional standard, in anoth- 
er respect the teaching group does not constitute a profess- 
ion. It has not a definite membership with high and definite 
qualifications. Hence teachers, as such, can not receive the 
valuation that is accorded to members of the true profes- 
sions. The coin may be of silver, but it is stamped with the 
same die as nickel and pewter. 

Hitherto the teachers' associations have solicited mem- 
bers, and this has been right, for there was missionary work 
to do. But the day must come when people shall solicit to 
be admitted as recognized members of the profession. Mem- 



bership in our body, as in every professional group, must be 
deemed an honor to be coveted. 

Make Certificates Certify 

'The first step is to move towards raising the standards 
for teachers' certificates. A very concrete opportunity is 
at hand. For some years there has been before the legisla- 
ture a proposition to establish a State Board of Examiners. 
This proposition has received the approval of the associ- 
ation of county superintendents, of the State Board of Edu- 
cation and of the State Teachers' Association; yet the leg- 
islature has refused or neglected to make it law. These 
gentlemen must be convinced that they will lose more votes 
by defeating this proposition than by passing it; and we 
recommend that every county organization see that its own 
delegates receive that conviction in unmistakable shape. 

Meanwhile we recommend that the State Board be re- 
quested to wait no longer for legislative action, but proceed 
at once to correct the crude method of teachers' examina- 
tions which, without its fault, it has inherited from earlier 
and less advanced conditions. 

We can do much by growing among ourselves a senti- 
ment demanding a broader and especially a more solid schol- 
arship. Every teacher, no matter what his grade or depart- 
ment, should be an educated man or woman, and no amount 
of technical skill or native smartness can entirely compen- 
sate for lack in this respect. No teacher should feel that he 
has been cheated if he has been persuaded to learn something 
more than he can hand over to his class in the original 
package. We recommend that, in general, a teacher attend- 
ing a large summer school be encouraged to take one sub- 
ject not immediately connected with his classroom work. 
If we are to be a profession, we must learn something more 
than the skill of the trade. 

Economic Improvement 

Organization and professionalization will be the two chief 
means of lessening the disagreeableness of personal rela- 



tions and of increasing the comfort of the life itself. By 
raising the valuation put upon the teacher, they will indi- 
rectly improve economic conditions. Something should be 
done to improve these conditions directly. 

3. Our third remedy, therefore, is providing for old age 
and disability. In the past five years there has been a rapid 
growth in State pension systems for public school teachers 
as one of the means of attracting and holding worthy teach- 
ers. There are now twenty-one statewide systems in ope- 
ration and twelve others affecting only certain cities. Vir- 
ginia is the only Southern State that has adopted a state- 
wide system. Others are considering it. There is absolutely 
no reason why South Carolina should not join these twenty- 
one States except the indifference of the teachers and peo- 
ple of the State to the need and advantages of some retire- 
ment plan. 

The experience of the States with their pension systems, 
he investigations of the Carnegie pension board, and the 
scientific basis of the annuity systems of the insurance com- 
panies have made available data that would be sufficient for 
the establishment of a successful system in this State. Such 
a system would doubtless have the following features: It 
would be a contributing system supported by assessments 
on its teacher members and by direct appropriation by the 
State that would bear a definite ratio to the contributions 
of teachers. 

The plan of enforced contributions on all teachers in pro- 
portion to their salaries, with a corresponding benefit in pro- 
portion to the amount they have paid in, is recommended as 
best, but a voluntary membership system might be made to 
serve in the beginning. The benefits would be based on the 
actuary tables now accessible and would be so safeguarded 
by the State as to make the investments of the contributing 
teachers secure and the promised benefits certain. Further 
security would be obtained by having the State's contribution 
and that of the teachers paid in annually and allowing these 
to accumulate against the future liability. 



For Teachers' Pensions 

It would probably also be desirable to have, in addition 
to the old age retirement annuity, a permanent disability 
feature and the return of their investments to members v^ho 
withdraw or are dismissed from service or die before the 
age for retirement. These features would probably double 
the cost. The funds would be administered by a commis- 
sion composed of some officers of the State Board of educa- 
tion and some teachers chosen by the contributing members, 
and the supervision of the State banking and insurance 
officers would be desirable. 

At the Spartanburg meeting of the State Teachers' As- 
sociation a committee was appointed to study this whole 
matter and report to the Association. So far as we know, 
nothing has been done. We urgently recommend that again 
a committee be appointed, and that it be strictly charged to 
have a report for the next meeting of this Association. 

4. The fourth remedy is to work for the correction of 
the present practices with the reference to the teacher's 
tenure of place. We can at least do something by agitation 
to cure the present misconception on the subject. The idea 
should be tirelessly presented to the public that the presump- 
tion is always against such a change; that the relation 
should always be assumed to continue till one of the parties 
expresses a desire for a change. 

We can encourage and promote the dernand for more men 
teachers. Without this, we cannot hope for a permanent 
teaching profession. We may well profit by the experience 
of other countries. 

Teacherage at Every School 

The teacher should naturally be a leading citizen of the 
community and therefore a permanent citizen. To this 
end, as for other reasons, we urge meembers of this Asso- 
ciation to propagate the doctrine of the teacher's home and 



10 

the school farm. Let us proclaim the slogan, "A teacher- 
age for every school." 

This policy would help also to solve the often vexing 
problem of board for lady teachers. 

Permanency of tenure would be promoted if the stronger 
town schools would reckon salaries by the year instead of 
by the month. 

We further recommend, when possible, the adoption of a 
salary scale increasing with length of service. 

5. Our last suggestion of remedy is to open to teachers 
more chance for promotion. 

One way is for teachers themselves to use their opportun- 
ities for leadership. If the teacher is the kind of educated 
man that he should be, there will be a plenty of such oppor- 
tunities. To let the people taste the benefits of leadership 
is to create an appetite for more leadership. 

But our most important effort in this line is persistently 
to work and agitate for an appreciation of expert supervis- 
ion. The position of county supervisor or something like 
it must be made universal. The office of county superintend- 
ent must be exalted in every way — by increasing the salary 
and the honor, by removing the position from politics, by 
requiring professional qualifications, and by extending the 
range- of selection. In a word, this position must be one to 
which the ablest educator in the county will aspire and to- 
ward which, as a goal, the most ambitious young teacher 
will strive. 

One more supervisory office needs to be mentioned. A 
shame on South Carolina and a reproach to our profession 
is the salary doled to the head of the educational system 
of the State. 

In conclusion we ask leave to offer the following : 



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RESOLUTIONS. 



"Resolved : 

"1. That this Association reaffirm its advocacy of the 
estabHshment of a State board of examiners; -that it in- 
struct its legislative committee to work for the passage of a 
law for such establishment ; that it urge its individual mem- 
bers and its county divisions to use all legitimate agitation to 
this end. 

"2. That the Association respectfully urge the State 
Board of Education to take immediate measures to improve 
our present crude and inefficient system of teacher exami- 
nations. 

"3. That there be a committee of five, the State Insur- 
ance Commissioner being requested to act as member with 
four others appointed by the president, which committee 
shall make a thoro study of the whole question of old age in- 
surance, pensions and annuities for teachers and shall report 
practical recommendations, without fail, at the next annual 
meeting of the Asociation. 

"4. 'That this Association undertake, collectively and 
thru its members, an active propaganda of the policy of 
providing teachers' homes for as many schools as possible. 

"5. That it be recommended to school boards to elect 
teachers for terms which are to continue indefinitely until 
one of the parties is dissatisfied. 

"6. That the legislature be asked to grant additional 
clerical assistance by which the office of the State Superin- 
tendent of Education may furnish information to teachers 
seeking* employment and to boards seeking teachers. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 




021 496 412 



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"7. That this Association recognizes the tremendous 
significance of the office of county superintendent of educa- 
tion, and pledges its influence in favor of professionalizing 
that office, of lengthening its tenure, and of increasing its 
compensation. 



"8. That the legislative committee be instructed to press 
for legislation that will provide, for the State Superintend- 
ent of Education, a salary in some degreee proportionate to 
the dignity and the high importance of the office." 

Patti:rson WaRDIvAW, 
W. H. McNairy, 
Lois Ebvin, 

Committee. 



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